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Emery Layton
Emery Layton (born June 27th, 1992) is an Irish-Romanian professional wrestler currently signed to the Xtreme Wrestling Alliance, '''where she is a former Supreme XWA Champion, a former XWA Tag Team Champion with Adam Fenric and the winner of the 2017 Lord of the Ring Summer Tournament. She is also signed to Union Battleground, where she is the current Union Battleground Champion and a former holder of the Trench War and King Cobra Champions (the inaugural holder for both titles). Emery also wrestles for In Your House Wrestling Federation, once again with Fenric, as part of the Tag Team Division. She has wrestled for various promotions across the globe. Emery is notable for her background as an Irish Traveller, and has wrestled in independent promotions based in Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom and across North America, developing a cult following for herself in the process. She also very occasionally performs under a tongue-in-cheek alter-ego known as '''Pirate Emery, which has gained her further notoriety with frequent references being made to it. In Union Battleground, she is currently recognised as the longest-reigning Trench War Champion to date, with a reign of 404 Days. Early life Emery was born into a family of Travellers in Ireland, although her grandmother was of Romani descent. She was the only girl in a family of six other brothers, so naturally she became a bit of a tomboy quite early on, despite her mother's attempts to try and change this and put her on the step of being a traditional Lackeen. Her father was a bare-knuckle fighting champion, and would often take Emery to fights with him, knowing she'd understand it in a different way to her brothers. With no actual school education due to moving from town to town, Emery would often visit libraries to read up on other cultures, countries and languages, usually sneaking the books out. It was through this she would find out about professional wrestling. She would then sneak out magazines and books about wrestling over time, developing a passion for it despite never actually seeing it in-person. It was at age 15 when her mother was preparing an arranged marriage for her that Emery fled her family's settlement without warning, abandoning the traveller community in pursuit of a career in wrestling. Professional Wrestling Career Early Career Emery managed to find a professional wrestling school where she could receive training. During this time, she moved in with another girl that she met at the school and would live with her for the duration of her training. Only a few months later, Emery would wrestle her first match aged only fifteen at an independent promotion in Dublin, in front of ten people. In this match, she broke her ankle and would be sidelined for eight weeks. When she came back, she would realise how quickly she would need to mature in order to make sure she got by. Emery took a "territory" approach to the business from that point on, staying in promotions for six months before moving onto the next, but accepting any bookings she could find. She would send VHS tapes to promoters of herself wrestling other people. After toiling away for the next few year and a half, Emery relocated to the United Kingdom, where she met mainstay of the British wrestling scene Chelsea Ray. With more experience behind her, Chelsea saw Emery's passion and quickly befriended her. Soon after, they were joined by the troubled Serena Maxwell, younger sister of the XWA's Richard J Maxwell and finally, Aki Yasuko joined the trio. Together, they formed a group calling themselves The Runaways. Emery and Serena joined forces as a tag team, but achieved little to no success, which only served to frustrate Serena. A Faustian deal offered by Diamond Jack Sabbath lead to Serena turning on the Runaways to accept a role on Sabbath's new security team War Enforcement and join the XWA. A year later, Chelsea's career was cut tragically short after a run-in with Whisper. This left only Emery and Yasuko, who grew much closer, living together in Japan. However, Yasuko's poor health and idealistic view of the world lead to an argument between the two, the last time they would see each other, as Yasuko would leave Japan without explanation. Emery spent the next year alone, moving between Japan and Mexico, learning to adapt to a more lucha-libre yet hard-hitting style. As she passed through 2015 and 2016, she would grow in confidence and through her mannerisms and overall quirkiness, developed a following with Mexican and Japanese audiences. It was during an appearance in Osaka, Japan that she would catch the eye of Bella Quinn, recently appointed co-owner of the XWA. 'Xtreme Wrestling Alliance' Layton & Fenric (2016-2017) On October 6th 2016, the XWA announced that it had signed Emery to a contract. This would be the first time Emery had been signed to a North American promotion. Not much information was given at the time aside from an official press release and an announcement from both sides on social media channels. At the Press Conference for the upcoming XWA Legends, it was confirmed Layton would make her in-ring debut in a match at the Supershow against Chris Novak, locked in Caged Carnage. Emery would go on to win the match, the first person to ever defeat Novak at the annual Legends show. As the new year began, it was confirmed Emery was now exclusive to the bi-weekly show Massacre and would immediately find herself at odds with the Fenrics, a subsidiary of the super-faction known as The Survivors, after she was seen to steal Massacre General Manager Richard J Maxwell's wallet. In an ambush by Solomon and Franz Fenric, she would be aided by their eldest brother Adam Fenric, whom they had excommunicated from the group due to his inability to lead them to success. The next week on Massacre, Emery suggested to Adam that they should form an alliance, believing that there was more to the ambush than her actions against Maxwell, but Fenric initially declined her offer. A week later, Emery was ambushed in the ring by Fenric's family once again, however once again Adam Fenric would intervene and fight alongside Emery. It was then announced that Emery and Adam would participate in the first ever XWA Tag Team Classic tournament as their newly formed alliance "Layton & Fenric". At Melbourne-based Supershow XWA: If You Want Blood, Layton & Fenric captured the XWA Tag Team Championships, which were vacated earlier in the night by Bella Quinn. On the tenth episode of Massacre, the team became clients of Amy Taylor, under her representation. At XWA On A Boat, Layton & Fenric wrestled their first Supershow main event as they defended the titles against Nueva Era Tainos- the team of then-Supreme XWA Champion Lx-Tim and his cousin Grandeza- successfully retaining them against the duo. This would also mark the first- and so far only- XWA appearance of Em's alter-ego "Pirate Emery". During the summer, Emery took a slight break from the tag team dealings of Layton & Fenric in XWA (although they still shared segments together each week) as she faced and defeated Laurel Anne Hardy at XWA's Japan supershow "BAKA GAIJIN" in an excrutiating contest that resulted in her leaving with a black eye and other injuries. This was not helped by a post-match attack by Minka Carter, who savagely beat Emery while the Survivors' Diamond Jack Sabbath focused on Laurel. This would begin Emery and Minka's rivalry proper after merely a few tweets had been exchanged prior. Emery also took part in the Lord of the Ring Summer Tournaments among 24 other participants and made her way past El Conejo a Dos to get to Minka Carter in the next round, exacting revenge on her for the beat-down in Japan. This would bring Emery to the semi-finals of the tournament, where she defeated Trace Demon to get to the finals. At XWA Fool's Gold, Emery eliminated both Smith Jones and The Jester to become the 2017 Lord of the Ring. The next month, Layton & Fenric would be banned from all future episodes of XWA Massacre ''following an attack on Richard J Maxwell by Adam Fenric. He would also be stripped of the Television Championship, but the duo could still appear on Supershows. At September's ''District XWA event, the team hosted the "Layton & Fenric Invitational", where they put their Tag Team Championships on the line against four teams from across the wrestling world- The Uncanny Socialites (Kelsey Spencer & Rebecca Saint), The Whitest Girls You Know (Annie Zellor & Molly Reid) and the team of Jake Rogers and Amy Jo Smyth. In the end, Jake and Amy would be successful, much to the shock of XWA's fanbase. At the next event, XWA With A Vengeance, Adam and Emery would invoke their rematch clause, but as a team-building exercise were forced to perform as one another. Though they were unsuccessful, they left the match with a renewed respect for one another. Supreme XWA Champion (2017-2018) In the month leading up to XWA Legends, it became apparent that the war between XWA and the Survivors was becoming more dangerous and self-destructive to the promotion. A match was made- three of XWA's best- and specifically people who'd been targeted by the Survivors over the last year- would take on the three top members of the Survivors - Trace Demon, Ace Andrews and Diamond Jack Sabbath- in a six-man elimination tag to determine which side would get full control over the XWA. Emery was selected by by Bella Quinn to be a part of Team XWA, along with her tag partner Adam Fenric and her boyfriend A.J. Morales, who had already had his fair share of run-ins with Sabbath. Though Emery was eliminated first in the six-person elimination tag match after a Crown Kick from Diamond Jack Sabbath, she would appear later on in the night, surprising everyone by cashing-in her Lord of the Ring opportunity and adding herself to the main event with Michael Swift and Lx-Tim to make it a triple threat. After a hard-fought match from all three, Emery won the Supreme XWA Championship in a match that won the Piledriver Award for "Match of the Year" and her cash-in tying with Lx-Tim's fake face-turn as the "Moment of the Year". Emery made her first defence at XWA Homecoming in January, facing off against the reigning GDW World Heavyweight Champion, the debuting Blake Archer, a match in which she retained. The next month, she retained again in her second defence, this time against Jessica Tendonin at XWA and the City of the Island Hills. However, following the match, Em was attacked by a returning Serena Maxwell. In a grudge match, Emery and Serena squared off at XWA On A Pole in a non-title match, but Emery would have to defend the title in April in the first ever No Man's Land match with Lx-Tim, A.J. Morales and Joey Miles challenging. On this occasion, Tim was triumphant and won the Supreme XWA Championship for a second time in his career. Emery, however, suffered a concussion from Tim's Footnote punt kick. Return of Yasuko (2018-Present) In the beginning of 2018, Emery began making references to a friend of hers who went missing, Aki Yasuko, who mysteriously disappeared before Emery achieved recognition within the industry. Vowing to find her, Emery enlisted the help of Amy Taylor, but was unable to locate her. Unbeknownst to Emery, after fixing her knee, the Fenrics were responsible for Yasuko's disappearance in 2015, as she was summoned to take part in Adam's experiments in return for his efforts. At the IYH/XWA crossover show "Worlds Collide", Yasuko resurfaced, eliminating Adam Fenric from the Worlds Collide rumble and then herself several seconds later. At the same event, Adam warned Amy that her ex-husband returning would have been 'less dangerous for everyone'. Nevertheless, it was announced shortly thereafter that Yasuko had signed with the XWA. Union Battleground Trench War Champion (2017-2018) In December 2016, it was announced Emery Layton had signed a contract with Union Battleground, and would participate in the company's tournament to crown the inaugural Union Battleground Champion. Emery would make it to the final four in the tournament before being taken out by Tweeder, but at the promotion's first Pay Per View "The Battle of Los Angeles", Emery Layton faced Sakaguchi Kyoshi, where she was crowned the inaugural Union Battleground Trench-War Champion. Emery defended the title several times from February onwards, mostly in Union Battleground, however she also defended the title in other promotions. In June 2017, while still holding the Trench War Championship, Emery tagged with XWA partner Adam Fenric as they entered the tournament to crown the promotion's first ever Battalions Champions, but were unsuccessful. On the season finale of LiGHTS OUT, Emery successfully retained her Trench War title once again, this time against Xion Ben-Judah. At the final Pay Per View of 2017, Emery beat Kimitsu Zombie, becoming the only person to hold the Trench War Championship during Season One, and carrying it forward into Season Two. In January 2018, Emery successfully defended the Trench War title against Anton Chase at the Season Two kickoff show RELAPSE but was aided by a masked assailant, though seemingly, Layton was unaware of his interference until after he had gone. The same match also made up the first round of the recently-announced Crown of the King Cobra tournament, meaning Emery had advanced to the next round. Emery next defended her title at a UKWF show against Blaise Fader, and was successful, however this was once again as a result of the masked assailant. Soon, it was revealed the assailant was working for a man named Dolan Farson, employed by Axel Graves to ensure Emery did not lose the Trench War Championship with a shot at the title promised to the assailant- also Farson's client- as reward for this. Upon discovering this information, Emery outright refused to defend the title against the masked man unless he unmasked himself. The assailant's identity was revealed to be that of Rogan MacLean, a savage Irish wrestler who had just signed with Union Battleground. The very next episode of LiGHTS OUT saw Emery and Rogan face off, where MacLean shockingly captured the Trench War Championship from Emery, ending her reign as champion at 404 days. Looking for a rematch, Emery challenged Rogan to a showdown at the upcoming supershow, War Of The Worlds, but someone else was waiting in the wings. Kimitsu Zombie, who had been defeated by Emery back during Season One, had recently won the War Horse Championship, allowing her the opportunity to challenge the Trench War Champion. This made the match into a triple threat at the event, which was won by Kimitsu. Following this, Emery decided to move on from the Trench War Championship, seeing her loss as an opportunity to seek out new goals. Union Battleground Champion (2018-Present) In the midst of all of her issues with Farson, Kimitsu and MacLean, Emery had also been fighting in the Crown of the King Cobra tournament. The last two tournaments hosted by Union Battleground that Emery had entered did not lead to her victory, and she was eager to break the cycle. The King Cobra Championship allows the holder to 'cash-in' and receive a match for the Union Battleground Championship whenever and where ever they please. Emery fought tooth-and-nail, getting to the final against Finn Whelan, where she was victorious and became the inaugural King Cobra Champion. From this point on, Emery began to refer to herself as a 'Landmine' or a 'Timebomb' due to the unpredictable nature of when exactly she would 'cash-in' for her shot at the Union Battleground Championship, making opaque references to Nemesis, the current champion, on multiple occasions. At Guerrilla Warfare, Emery cashed in her King Cobra title won the Union Battleground Championship. In Your House Wrestling Federation Various feuds (2017-2018) In July 2017, Emery made a surprise appearance on an episode of Ruckus, much to the disdain of Adam Fenric, who had signed with the company only a month prior. Shortly after the episode's airing, Amy Taylor confirmed that Layton & Fenric were now officially part of the IYHWF tag team division. In their debut on the very next episode- a main event match billed as 'champions vs champions' due to their ongoing reign as XWA Tag Team Champions- they were unsuccessful in defeating the current IYH Tag Team Champions Murphy's Law. Most were pleased to finally see the debut of the team in the promotion (after several direct and in-direct references made to them in the previous season by the likes of Diamond Jack Sabbath and Kelly Fury), however Rebecca Saint of the Uncanny Socialites would take issue with the team being part of the main event in their debut, feeling she and her partner Kelsey Spencer (who Emery was already friends with before her arrival in the promotion) should have been there. When the Socialites were unable to win the Tag Team titles from Murphy's Law themselves, Emery's attempt at support was rebuked by Saint, who declared her and Adam as the team's enemies as long as they were here going after the same championships as them. This lead to various hostile tweets between members of the teams over the course of a few days, mostly between Rebecca and Emery. An attempt to patch things up with Kelsey by Emery was thwarted by Adam, who told declared that Spencer was no more than competition and should be thought of as such. The two teams continued to reference one another until the 45th episode of Ruckus, where the two teams would face off with one another before both teams entered into a Tag Team scramble at the next IYH supershow "The Fall". After Kelsey and Becky left IYH, Emery was able to patch things up with them and remain friends with both of them, Saint even admitting she had been wrong about Layton. After The Fall, Emery would begin a war of words with Stella Winters, manager of Marcus Blackbeard, the two very quickly becoming enemies. Despite Stella's constant goading, she would frequently back off from challenges made by Emery. In September, Layton & Fenric took on Blackbeard in a handicap match, which he won due to interference from Stella. Following this, Chris Cryptic decreed there would now be a tag team match between Layton & Fenric and Stella & Blackbeard on the next show, which Stella protested against due to her position as a non-wrestler. However during the match, it was revealed Stella in fact could wrestle, and she managed to get a surprise pin over Emery. Layton & Fenric would receive a rematch at the October Supershow "Rise to the Throne" with Stella and Marcus (now referring to themselves as "The Dragon & The Kraken"), a match in which Emery would reprise her alter-ego "Pirate Emery" from XWA On A Boat and Adam Fenric would also return to his "Plague Doctor" persona for one night only. The team was successful in defeating Stella and Marcus and would move on, focusing once again on the tag team division. Chasing the Tag Team Championships (2018-Present) The team were notably absent through November and December, not appearing again until the final Ruckus episode of 2017, where they defeated the Church of Illusionism. Powering through every team standing in front of them, Layton & Fenric earned themselves a shot at the IYH Tag Team Champions Team Fury (the alliance of Gordon Fury and Kelly Fury) at Unearthed but were not successful in capturing the title. Though a loss to the Bad Omens set them back, at Dawn Of The Immortals, the duo managed to secure another chance at the titles, set to take place during IYH Season Three. Other promotions (2016-present) In 2017, Emery participated in DARC Pro Sports "Birthday Bash" event in January, taking part in a Six-Pack Challenge-Plus-One match to represent the XWA, where she became a two-time Interim DARC Horse Champion, losing the title only ten seconds before the timer ended to Crystal Millar. She would also appear on the first episode of Energy, facing and defeating Cory Chevelle with a single punch. In April 2017, Emery joined the Laurel Anne Hardy's promotion Filthy Bazaar ''and made her debut at ''"like light tubes n shit, yknow", participating on both Night 1 and 2. On Night 1, she lost in a fatal four way to Gunner Stahl, but proved to be arguably one of the most popular faces on the entire show due to her crowd interaction. She returned to the promotion for the August show "On the Outside, Looking Out", teaming with A.J Morales. Emery teamed with A.J again for CWC's "Date Night" tournament in February 2018, being able to be brought in due to Morales being a part of CWC's Mexico brand. The pair challenged The Society for the CWC Tag Team Championships at the Anniversary Show in May 2018 but were unsuccessful. Emery appeared at Seattle Pro Wrestling's show CONFLICT, successfully defending the Union Battleground Trench War Championship against Aria Price. As a guest, Emery main evented HELL Lucha Libre's Pay Per View HELL y Amigos!, where she teamed with fellow XWA Tag Team Champion Adam Fenric to face Her Majesty’s Rejects (Kai Cooper & Darragh O’Connor) for the Campeonato Legión del HELL. Though Layton & Fenric were unsuccessful, the teams gained each other's respect and the match received wide acclaim. Personal life Emery does not believe in any sort of religion, though initially raised as a Roman Catholic. While living the 'Traveller' lifestyle, Emery has made multiple friends across the industry with fellow wrestlers such as Trixie, Christina Hamilton, Molly Reid, Laurel Anne Hardy, Michael Swift and Austin Carter and is also engaged to fellow XWA star A.J. Morales. In spite of their feud in IYH, shortly after their departure from the company, Emery also became good friends with both Kelsey Spencer (of whom she was already friends with) and Rebecca Saint. Emery is able to speak the languages of Irish Gaelic, Japanese, Spanish and Mandarin as well as some partial German and French. As a result of a run-in with former friend Serena Maxwell, Emery is deaf in her left ear and has been for many years. Emery is known to be a massive fan of English singer-songwriter Kate Bush, who she regards as an influence on her overall persona. Wrestling Persona While not overtly a 'gimmick' due to it's factual origins, Emery's wrestling persona draws from her background as an Irish Traveller, but also from her roguish, free-spirited demeanour. She has become popular with the fans due to her mannerisms, her devil-may-care attitude and her odd sense of humour. She is almost always seen a black beanie, a really old and beaten-up black leather jacket. She has been seen to show signs of kleptomania, although usually it is directed at heels and always explained as being in response to something they've done, not a genuine case. Emery has shown a fondness for pirates and as such, adopted the gimmick of "Pirate Emery" for the cruiseship-based show XWA On A Boat. Emery reprised the gimmick for IYHWF's October Supershow "Rise to the Throne". Her recklessness and negligence for forward-planning is often portrayed as a character flaw, as well as her seemingly overpowering reluctance to deal with consequences or follow rules set to her by other people. While her joking and mockery of heels gains her popularity, it is also a sign of her immaturity and nervous energy, a theme that runs through many of her storylines, in particular her partnership with Adam Fenric in which both characters frequently challenge one another's motivations and actions. Emery's optimism is also frequently portrayed as a flaw. In Wrestling *'Finishing moves' **'The Prikasa' ''(Top Rope Diving Cutter)'' **''Wuthering Heights' ''(Double Somersault Splash) *'''Signature moves **"Eat the Music" (Busaiku Knee Attack, usually proceeded by the Prikasa) **"Rolling the Ball" (Backflip-under-arm-to-Step Up Enziguri, usually to avoid some variation on a clothesline or lariat) **"Pull Out the Pin" (Springboard spike hurricanrana into a pin) **"The Kicks Inside" (Repeated Running Corner Dropkicks) **"Strange Phenomena" (Back Handspring Cutter) **“Cloudbusting" (Running Hip Attack) **“Babooshka”(Pendulum Lariat) *'Nicknames' **'The Worst of the Pavees' **'The Lethal Lackeen' **The Journeylass **The Swashbuckling **The Trench War Traveller **The Big Cheese **The Bee's Knees **The Business **The Rubberband Girl **The Kamikaze Kaizoku **The Main Course **The Best Problem Ever **"#BootyStrongStyle" **Your Da's Favorite **The Wearer of Many Hats **The Lord Mayor of Craic Town **Adorably Deplorable **Jankenstein's Monster **The Enrique Iglesias of the XWA **SuprEmery **The Marathon Woman **'The International Woman' *'Entrance themes' **'"Running Up That Hill" by The Feud' **"Somewhere Else To Be" by VAST **'"Come As You Are" by Nirvana (Tag Team with Adam Fenric)' Championships and Accomplishments *Supreme XWA Championship (December 2017-April 2018) *XWA Lord of the Ring Summer Tournament Winner 2017 (August 2017) *XWA Tag Team Championship (with Adam Fenric, April-September 2017) *Union Battleground Trench War Championship (Inaugural, February 2017-April 2018) *Union Battleground King Cobra Championship (Inaugural, March 2018-Present) *BDGF Burger King Whopper Challenge Deathmatch Championship (August-October 2017) *BDGF Janken Championship (November 2017- February 2018) *Interim DARC Horse Championship (2x, January 2017) *Uncanny Podcast Random Question Time Championship (Inaugural, October 2017) *"Wrestler of the Year" Award- Union Battleground "End of Season One" Valor Awards (2017) *"Female Wrestler of the Year" Award- Union Battleground "End of Season One" Valor Awards (2017) *"Champion of the Year" Award (as Trench War Champion)- Union Battleground "End of Season One" Valor Awards (2017) *"Overall Wrestler of the Year" Award- XWA Piledriver Awards (2017) *"Hero of the Year" Award- XWA Piledriver Awards (2017) *"Match of the Year" Award for Layton/Swift/Tim Triple Threat at Legends 2017- XWA Piledriver Awards (2017) *"Promo of the Year" Award for "I Fought Pirahnas"- XWA Piledriver Awards (2017) *"Storyline of the Year" Award for The Layton & Fenric Saga (TIED with Minka Carter)- XWA Piledriver Awards (2017) *"Best Single Moment" Award for Emery Layton Cashes In (TIED with Lx-Tim)- XWA Piledriver Awards (2017) *"Best Social Media Presence" Award for @TheEmeryLayton (TIED with Minka Carter)- XWA Piledriver Awards (2017) External links XWA BattleZone Profile Category:Wrestlers